10 Jul 14
Amendments to FMDs

The ATO advises that the Tax Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No 1) Bill 2014 received Royal Assent on 30 May 2014. Included in the Bill were changes to the Farm Management Deposit (FMD) scheme. These are:

changes to the FMD scheme to allow FMD owners to consolidate their existing accounts that have been held for longer than 12 months, without triggering tax liabilities

increasing the non-primary production threshold for FMDs from $65,000 to $100,000.

These changes apply to income years commencing on or after 1 July 2014.

In addition to the above changes, amendments were also made to the Banking Act 1959 to exclude FMDs from the operation of the unclaimed moneys scheme from the date of Royal Assent.